


Secret Palace

by BalloonBalls



Category: Persona 5
Genre: M/M, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-17
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-24 09:55:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14952446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BalloonBalls/pseuds/BalloonBalls
Summary: If there were some way to save Goro Akechi, the Phantom Thieves would do it, begrudgingly. The only way they know how to help people and society is through changing their hearts, and that's exactly what they had planned to do for the Ace Detective. Aka I'm just bitter that Akechi never got a palace so that's what this is.





	1. Plans

"God, every time I hear that freakn' name I just get so damn mad!" Ryuji barked, leaning forward in his booth. "Because of Masayoshi Shido, Akira has lost everything. His freedom, his clean record, his life. We can change his heart and make him pay for what he has done to him, and to us," Yusuke stated. It was true that Shido had ruined Akira's life, it was true that Shido was a man with twisted desires, it was true that Shdio deserved to be condemned for his crimes. Akira could never forgive him for what he did to himself, his friends, that woman, Wakaba, and all of the innocent people who died because of him. 

Everyone sat around at the familiar coffee shop that Akira lived at. The atmosphere was homey, kind of like a second home to the group. Everyone had gotten together to head to the Metaverse and make some progress at Shido's palace, but they just were so tired. They were filled with so many emotions and wanted nothing more than to make Shido pay, but there was a form of an anchor that held them down. They were just so tired, so defeated. Even if they did defeat Shido, what about Akira? How could they help their leader? What would Japan do? It was the right thing to do, yet it felt so hopeless.

"It's a shame we couldn't have tried to stop him sooner. We will be saving so many people, but we failed to save those in the past," Makoto sighed. "It's better than him becoming Prime Minister," Ann added. "Ann's right. We can't dwell on the past like that," Haru soothed. "You're right, but...still. Even if we win, we're still kind of losers. We lost so much, especially Akira," Makoto pouted, making the atmosphere feel less like a home and more like a prison. 

"Don't tell me you're losing hope, Makoto," Futaba whined, but Makoto just sighed. "Hey, if Shido and Akechi are lackeys, does that mean we'll be getting back at both of em?" Ryuji asked, a mischievous grin forming on his lips. Akechi. Now that's a name that hasn't been said in a while. He was a powerful persona wielder, and maybe even a friend. It...really was a shame. "Probably. If Shido confesses, he'd most likely out Akechi's involvement in his rise to power," Morgana responded.

"Now that's definitely a reason to keep fighting! Think about it, we'll be gettin' back at the guy who almost murdered Akira. That's enough for me, what about you?" Ryuji beamed, grinning at Makoto. "I guess you're right, Akechi definitely deserves to pay for what he did to Akira. Both Shido and Akechi deserve punishment for their crimes, so it's like killing two birds with one stone," Makoto answered. "Still, it is quite a shame that things had to be this way. Even though we knew Akechi was a liar, I still couldn't help but enjoy his company," Yusuke acknowledged. "For real?!" Ryuji shouted. 

Akira was mad at Akechi for everything that he had done, sure, but he did agree with Yusuke. It hurt when Akechi betrayed them, even though he knew it was going to happen. He knew that Akechi intended on murdering him, but Akira couldn't help but want to befriend Akechi in hopes that he'd change his mind. "Either way, what's done is done. We should get to Shido's palace quickly," Morgana urged. "Wait, does Akechi have a palace?!" Futaba proposed. "What?! Were you not listening? We don't have time to worry about that!" Morgana shouted, looking up at Futaba who was also his seat. 

"Morgana's right, we can't be worrien' about Akechi when we have Shido first. For once the cat said somethin' useful," Ryuji teased, and Morgana stood from Futaba's lap and jumped onto the table. "What did you say?!" Morgana barked back. "Can we help Akechi?" Akira asked. In some deep part of his heart, he somewhat considered Akechi as a close friend. They were enemies, but there was also a strong bond between them. Maybe it was a strong bond of hatred, or maybe it was friendship. Either way, he didn't want to see Akechi fall in such a lackluster way. He was too smart for something like that. 

"What?! Akira, are you insane?!" Ann shouted, leaning closer to the table. "Do you think Akechi plans for us to do this?" Futaba asked. "What do you mean?" Haru questioned. "What if Akechi found out about Akira's missing body? He'd probably double check just in case, or find something fishy about his 'death'. So what if, once he finds out that Akira is still alive, he goes to take him out again in Shido's palace. Or decides to flee because he knows how powerful we are and that we'd probably win?" Futaba proposed, and the room fell silent. 

"If that were to happen, then what could we do? We have to stop Shido, but we also have to make sure that Akechi doesn't figure us out," Makoto acknowledged. "This is all speculation. There's no way to confirm that this will happen," Yusuke added. "But she's right, it might happen. We need to know what to do during all possible situations in order to make our mission successful. We also need both of them to pay for what they did, not just Shido," Morgana stated. 

"Maybe we could get inside his palace," Yusuke suggested. "And change his heart? We don't have enough time for that. Besides, we don't even know if he has a palace," Morgana rejected. "We usually have time to spare after finishing a palace, and we spend that time laying around and worrying about what will happen. Besides, Akechi is a twisted assassin, there is a low chance he won't have a palace," Makoto suggested. 

"But if we get rid of Shido's palace before Akechi figures us out, then we won't need to get rid of his palace!" Ryuji barked. "We still have quite a bit of time to wait if we steal Shido's heart before election day. In that time Akechi might flee to escape punishment if he does not figure out what happened soon enough. When people receive changes of heart, they act strangely until their confessions. Akechi might put two and two together and realize what had happened," Yusuke retorted. 

"Damn it..." Ryuji sighed, laying his forehead on the table in defeat. "Unfortunately, Yusuke is right. It would be smart to change Akechi's heart," Morgana stated. "Hang on, let's see if he even has a palace," Ryuji began, raising his head while pulling his phone out of the pocket in his pants. "Goro Akechi," Ryuji spoke into the phone, and the phone answered with a "Target Found". "For real?!" Ryuji shouted, looking at the phone in disbelief. 

"It's not a surprise, like I said, he's an assassin," Makoto remarked. "Still, he was a teammate. It's hard to believe that one of us would even have a palace," Haru commented. "Hey!" Futaba shouted back. "Okay, let's think about what and where. What would his palace be?" Morgana asked, and the room fell silent once again. "What about a slaughter house?" Ryuji suggested, but the phone answered with a "Conditions have not been found". "He's not a crazy serial killer, Ryuji!" Morgana shouted. "That's debatable!" Ryuji retorted. 

"For someone who was our teammate, we really knew nothing about him," Futaba commented. They had just started, but were already fresh out of ideas. He murdered for Shido, but that's all they knew about his twisted nature. Other than that, he seemed like a pleasant boy. It was difficult to see someone like him as an assassin at all. It's kind of a shame, they never really gave him a chance. But then again, they were always too suspicious of him before he even became a teammate. There's no reason for the team to feel guilty about this turn of events, but they just can't help themselves. "Out of all of the things in the world, what could it be?" Ann asked. "Candidate found," The phone buzzed. 

"For real?!" Ryuji shouted. "The world? Is that his 'where'?" Makoto asked. "Wow Lady Ann, you're as smart as always! I knew you'd be able to help!" Morgana chirped, clearly as smitten as always. "It was just luck, but I'll take it!" Ann cheered. "Does Akechi think he rules over the world because he's an Ace Detective? I didn't think he was even more twisted than Shido," Futaba queried. "I don't think that would be the case. He never had a big ego, even if it was a facade. Besides, if he were to think he ruled the world, then why would he let Shido control him?" Yusuke stated. 

"Then maybe he feels imprisoned," Makoto suggested. "What do you mean?" Haru asked. "He always seemed to be overwhelmed by those fans of his, and he didn't seem to have many friends either. I never saw him with other people unless they were his fans or a camera crew. It was like he was isolated from the world," Makoto suggested. "What do you think, Akira?" Ryuji asked. Isolation. Something, or someplace that kept a person isolated from the world. A place that locks someone away from society. A place like that, Akira knew about all too well. 

"A prison?" Akira proposed. The phone buzzed with a "Results Found". "Holy shit dude! You got it!" Ryuji beamed. "C'mon, let's check this place out," Morgana commanded. With that, they were on their way to find out what really went on inside of Akechi's head. 


	2. Early Morning Swim

Where they ended up was...unexpected to say the least. They were supposed to be at a prison, but somehow they ended up stranded in a body of water. "Oh God, I can't swim! Help, somebody help!" Futaba screeched. She was flailing her arms around in the water frantically, but she was already starting to sink. Akira didn't even hesitate, he swam as fast as he could to get to Futaba's side. Once he got to her, he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her up then wrapped her arm around his shoulders to support her.

Futaba leaned on him, almost as if she was unable to support herself. She wasn't even kicking her legs in the water! Luckily, the girl wasn't too heavy because of her small stature. However that doesn't change the fact that she's still dead weight that Akira had to carry. "Jokerrrrrr!" Morgana cried, and suddenly Akira felt a sharp pain on his back. When he turned his head to look and see what was causing the pain, he saw Morgana, in his normal cat form, clinging onto his back. He then jumped from his back to the top of Akira's head, trying his best to avoid the water.

"What the hell...?" Ryuji questioned, glancing around at the world around them. There wasn't really much to see, just water and sky. It was a beautiful sunny day in this palace, a glare reflecting on the waters. "Weren't we supposed to go to a prison? Why are we here?" Ann asked, the tips of her hair floating in the water. The nav app did say that they were going to a prison, did it malfunction? Can the nav app even malfunction?

"Look, over there!" Haru shouted, pointing to an area ahead of them. Everyone turned their attention to where she pointed, and there was something large in the distance. It looked like...an island of sorts. But there was something on that island, a large building sat firmly at it's center. "Is that the prison?" Yusuke queried, floating peacefully in the water. Akira squinted to try to get a better look at the island, but it was too far away to really see anything specific. Not the mention his glasses were wet, making it difficult to see anything at all. "I think so," Makoto replied.

"For real?! This effin sucks! Why's he gotta make us swim in the damn ocean to get to his palace?!" Ryuji barked, causing a chuckle to come from Morgana. "Can it cat!" Ryuji shouted in his defense. "We should probably start swimming if we intend on getting to his palace," Yusuke suggested. Fortunately, the swim didn't look like it was going to take too long which was especially good news to Akira. Oceans have never been easy to swim in, but carrying Morgana and Futaba was going to make him sink faster.

"Mush, Joker!" Morgana demanded, sitting idly on Akira's head. Since Morgana was in his normal cat form, it made him significantly lighter which made the swim a little easier on Akira. "I'm not ready! We're gonna drown!" Futaba cried, sticking to Akira like a stubborn piece of tape. Akira was already struggling to hold the two up, so there really was no way in hell he was going to make it to shore at this rate. Well, not alive.

"Poor Joker, he's really going to drown because of you two," Ryuji sighed, but he was smiling. His words may have seemed concerned, but his tone of voice definitely said otherwise. "Oracle, why don't you get on his back so you don't hinder his movement," Yusuke suggested, and Futaba shot a glare at him in response. Akira could do nothing but just sigh, he was really starting to get tired of carrying Futaba. Morgana was light, but Futaba was starting to get heavier by the minute.

"Shut it, Inari! That's embarrassing!" Futaba stuttered, but obliged. She moved herself over to face Akira's back, then climbed up. She then wrapped her legs around his hips and arms around the upper torso. Futaba was right, this was really embarrassing, but not just for her. Still though, this would definitely keep him from drowning now that half of his body has been freed from dead weight.

With that, the group made their way to to the island. Akira was struggling just a little to keep the three of them afloat, but it wasn't too bad. He'd never admit it, but thanks to Morgana's training, swimming like this wasn't too bad. However, the main thing hindering Akira was how close Futaba was. She was scared, obviously, so she held him as tight as she could. It was a bit embarrassing to him, but this was the only way to keep her from drowning so he didn't mind it too much.

No one really talked as they swam, they were all intent on just making it out of the ocean. Because it was so quiet in the group, it left this heavy atmosphere of dread around them. How difficult would this palace be to traverse if they had to cross the ocean just to get to it in the first place? That's a question that no one wanted the answer to.

The ocean was eerily calm, which somehow added to the terrible atmosphere. There wasn't even a cloud in the sky! It felt like the area was just this blank canvas, or a bland drawing. There was nothing in the waters that one would expect to see, rocks, waves, marine life, nothing. The only thing in the waters was the island that was getting closer and closer. The Phantom Thieves weren't particularly asking for trouble, but they did have to admit that the waters were kind of boring to swim. It was just overly....pleasant. Just a bit too pleasant.

"I wonder why Akechi doesn't see us as a threat," Makoto queried, the first to realize that they hadn't changed into their Phantom Thieving outfits and breaking the silence in the process. Akira raised his arm to check, and sure enough, he was still wearing his blazer. It's probably a good thing that they didn't change, their costumes are rather excessive so it would probably have held them down. "Maybe because he thinks that we've been defeated," Futaba answered, her chin rested on Akira's shoulder. "Whatever the case may be, it's still kind of weird. I have a bad feeling about this place, guys. Be prepared for anything," Morgana advised.

"Mona, get your tail out of my face!" Futaba cried, raising one of her arms and swatting at the tail in her face. "There isn't enough room for my tail up here!" Morgana protested, and all Akira could do was sigh. Where was his thank you for even letting them use him as a boat anyway? "Maaan, I hope we get there soon," Ryuji complained, and Akira silently agreed.

"Look, we're almost there!" Haru shouted, her swimming speed starting to increase. Now they could make out the details of the island, and the building that sat on it. It definitely was a prison, but why is it out in the middle of the ocean? The prison was large, a rectangular building colored with lots and lots of grey. The windows were barred, and if someone were to look closely, they could see arms flailing out of the windows. It was a relatively boring looking prison, and very underwhelming compared to usual palaces.

Once the group set foot on the island, their clothes changed back to the normal Phantom Thief attire. Futaba slid off of Akira's back, and Morgana jumped off of his head. Akira felt so much relief, especially after cracking his back. "Hey, our clothes are dry! And wearing our Phantom Thief clothes...?" Ryuji commented, checking out his clothes as if they were new to him. "Why does he see us as a threat now?" Makoto questioned.

"He's been faking a lot, hiding behind his own mask. He always acted really friendly and nice around everyone, but he secretly was an assassin with no regard for human life. Once you see past the mask and his secret intentions, he probably sees you as a threat. The ocean is probably his metaphorical mask since it was so calm, and we just moved past it," Morgana explained, now in his Metaverse form. "What? That makes no damn sense like usual!" Ryuji complained, but Morgana just scoffed in response.

"You all, who are you?!" A voice ahead shouted, causing the group to look ahead. There were two men standing in front of the entrance doors and they were wearing security guard outfits. They were both older looking men with large stomachs and greying hair. They kind of looked like stereotypical rich men. "Us?" Ryuji asked, being the first to step forward and the group following behind him. The guards glanced at each other, then back at the group. "Yes, you! Don't you know where you are?" The taller guard asked, giving the group a glare.

"This prison holds up the most worthless criminals. The most worthless one being the prisoner Goro Akechi, so you all should just go back home. But then again, you all look pretty worthless yourselves. And criminals nonetheless! Maybe we should look you all up in here," The shorter guard remarked, his hand firmly gripping on the gun in it's holster. "The most worthless...? And he's a prisoner here? Is that...how he views himself? I thought he was the palace ruler, yet he's imprisoned?" Yusuke questioned, looking to the group for some sort of explanation. Of course, no one could provide an answer to his question.

"Wait, hey! We're not worthless!" Ryuji barked at the guards, but they just laughed at him. "We need to get inside of that prison, sirs," Makoto explained in a gentle yet firm tone. She was always the best with negotiations, or with people in general. "Well, maybe we can let you in. As criminals of course!" The shorter guard bellowed. "Get real! There's no way we'd ever let you do that!" Ann replied with a scowl.

"Well, we have a problem don't we? Is there any other way we can let them in?" The taller guard asked, turning his attention to the shorter guard. "Well, maybe if you give us your money we'll let you in," The shorter guard suggested, a smirk on his face. Money? Why money? Not a key card, but money? That's strange. Akechi never came off as the money-grubbing type. "W-We don't have any money on us," Haru spoke up.

"Well that's just a shame, isn't it? Guess you can't get in," The taller guard sighed, smiling just a little. "Well then, I guess we're fightin' our way in!" Ryuji shouted. Is there ever a way to avoid conflict in the Metaverse, or is everyone just blood hungry? The men then started to shed their exterior, revealing their true shadowy nature.

The fight didn't take too long, the enemies weren't too difficult. Still though, they were unfamiliar enemies that the Phantom Thieves weren't used to. They were normal field enemies, but for field enemies, they came with quite the punch. Luckily, their weakness were obvious, so the Phantom Thieves practically wiped the floor with the two shadows which is how things usually go.

The two shadows vanished as they usually do, the Phantom Thieves sweating just a bit. "Damn, this place already sucks. First we had to swim here, now there are guards 'greeting' us at the entrance. Akechi must really hate us or something," Ryuji complained, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. Then came a loud noise, causing the group to look up to try and see where the sound was coming from.

The large, metal doors opened slowly while emitting a loud creaking sound. "Alright, now we can finally get in!" Futaba exclaimed happily. "I didn't think The Phantom Thieves would really come," A vaguely familiar voice spoke from the other side of the large doors. When the doors finally opened completely, there stood the one they were fighting against. Not him, but his shadow.


	3. A Shadow of Doubt

It was somewhat horrifying seeing him like this. Akira knew that this version of Akechi wasn't the real one, he knew the one standing before him was a shadow. But it still got to him, somehow he still considered Akechi a friend. Even if this was really a shadow of Akechi, it still holds all of the deep desires in his heart. Acknowledging that was somewhat painful. If Akira was being honest, he didn't want to believe that this was the real Akechi. He wanted to go on with believing that the kind-hearted detective was the real version of him, but that is never the case. Somehow, it hurt Akira seeing him like this, and he just wanted to help Akechi.

Shadow Akechi just stood there, smiling at the group in a sickeningly sweet way, and it made Akira's stomach turn. It was eerie, and, in a way, kind of sad. His eyes were a light yellow color, almost like cat eyes. He had the eyes of a typical shadow, but he didn't really look all that menacing. He almost looked like a beaten down dog, emotionally and physically. His clothes, they were the same as Akira's when he would enter the Velvet Room; he even had cuffs around his wrists. That somehow made Akira just a bit uncomfortable. Akira didn't want to believe it, but Akechi was really a prisoner and not something like a prison guard. But why?

"Wow, it's The Phantom Thieves standing right before me. I really didn't think you all would come," Shadow Akechi spoke, his voice flat and monotone. He kept that same smile on his face, but his tone of voice showed something completely different. It was almost as if he was wearing a mask of sorts to physically hide his true emotions, but a mask can't change someone's voice or body language.

But all of this begs the question, If he's this palace's ruler, why does he see himself as a prisoner in his own palace? He's not even acting like a ruler, or someone who has completely given into their desires. If this is his shadow, why is he not the essence of Akechi's true self? Why is he holding back? Or rather, what is he holding back?

"We're only here so you won't get in our way, asshole!" Ryuji barked through gritted teeth. "Your clothes, why are you...?" Yusuke pondered, staring at him to analyze him. To be honest, everyone was confused as to why he was acting and looking the way he was. "A prisoner? Because this is my prison, I run this place! I may be a criminal here, but all of the lowlife prisoners look up at me! And in exchange, I help them fight against the prison guards, they need me!" Shadow Akechi bellowed, stepping closer to the Phantom Thieves. That startled them a bit, especially Akira. Hearing Akechi shout made him feel...uncomfortable. "This is your palace, right? Why are you being ruled over in your own palace?" Ann asked.

Shadow Akechi stayed quiet for a moment, his smile fading away and turning into a form of a scowl. "There is no point in coming here. My treasure is hidden in the depths of my prison, but I applaud your efforts. But I must ask you to leave now, or suffer the consequences" Akechi lectured. That was odd, he dodged the question rather than finding a tactful answer like he usually does in the real world. "There's no way we're going to let you roam the world unchanged!" Haru argued.

"You're going to confess your crimes, no matter what! We will steal your treasure!" Makoto claimed, her fist clinched. Shadow Akechi just smiled that sickeningly sweet smile once again, then shook his head. "I would be most grateful if you were to do so. But of course, I won't let you do that. I won't lose to the likes of you. So if you're going to steal my treasure, you have to find it first. We're rivals after all, so I can't make this easy for you," Shadow Akechi stated, his tone sly. He wanted his treasure to be stolen, yet won't let The Phantom Thieves steal it? Because he's too petty to lose? That didn't seem like Akechi, or rather, the fake Akechi. Besides, why did Akechi want his treasure stolen anyway?

Shadow Akechi stepped back a bit, walking back into the arms of the prison that held him captive. Why did he willingly go back inside if he's a poorly treated prisoner?! The doors were starting to close in front of him on their own. "The door!" Morgana warned as the door was starting to close on it's own. Everyone ran as fast as they could to try and catch it before it closed, but it slammed in their faces before they could get to it in time. Ryuji grabbed at the handles and started to yank on them as hard as he could, but it wouldn't open no matter how much he pulled. "Damn it! It's locked!" Ryuji proclaimed. Just their luck.

Akira was starting to feel something very strange, something unidentifiable. The lack of menace, and an abundance of something akin to pain, that Shadow Akechi showed made Akira hurt, though he'd never admit it. Even in his palace, it looked like he was lying even though there was no need to. A palace is supposed to be a person's true, warped self exposed and in the flesh. So if that's the case, why did Shadow Akechi still look the way he did? What was it that he so desired that caused his heart to be a prison? And, why did Akira feel the need to save him?

"Things are never easy in palaces, huh?" Futaba sighed in defeat, and everyone silently agreed. "We just have to find a key, but where?" Ann suggested the obvious, but no one had the answer to her question. "Let's start looking around, we'll find something eventually," Morgana advised the obvious, but it was the best course of action for them. Even though it still kind of...sucked.

So that is what they did. Everyone ended up splitting up and figuring out where they were going to search. Everyone pretty much had the same idea, check the sand for any pairs of dropped keys. Then again, the only place around them was water, sand, and a locked prison. So everyone ended up splitting up to rummage around in the hot sand.

Akira didn't notice before, but the palace was eerily quiet. It was almost as if there was no source of life to be heard from besides the occasion clank from the barred windows inside the prison. Not to mention that the palace was hot, especially for poor Akira who had to wear all black in the hot sun. It was quite reminiscent of Futaba's tomb palace in all of the worst ways. Not only was there heat, but there was also lots of inescapable sand. Walking in that sand in the heat just made everything so much worse.

Akira eventually decided that searching the sand for dropped keys was ineffective, those two shadows definitely did not drop keys. So instead, he took to looking for a way to sneak in the palace like a true thief. After all, entering from the front is the worst thing to do as any type of thief. Well, usually that's the case. Unfortunately, as far as Akira could see, the only form of entrance is that front door. There aren't any vents, windows, or secret passage ways, there was just nothing but that front door. So Akira decided that maybe taking a look behind the prison might be a good idea. The further back he walked, the more grass started to appear! Akira couldn't have asked for anything better, well, besides an entrance.

While Akira was making his way to the back of the palace, he started to hear something, a voice. "...still didn't die? I would've thought for sure that those Phantom Thieves would've killed him for sure. Wait, they didn't even attack him?! If I would've had that change, I wouldn't have stopped beating him!" A mysterious voice laughed from a distance. That definitely came from the back of the prison. Not only was there a voice, but there was also sounds of multiple people grunting and the clanking of iron. Akira immediately pressed himself up against the wall and peered over the corner, starting to eavesdrop on the conversation. There were two prison guards talking to each other and one other patrolling around the area. There were also prisoners around as well, some were using fitness equipment like weights and others were practically killing each other in fights. The guards didn't seem to notice, or care. But Akira did noticing a strange similarity between all of the prisoners, they all looked his age or younger. They were all...minors. But why?

"No matter what we do, he just won't go away. We've thrown him out to who knows how many fights, but he always gets out alive. I mean he's so scrawny, I don't even know how he's alive without our intervention! He's just a burden, I wish he would just die already," The other guard sighed in response. Who were they talking about? "I know right?!" The original voice laughed heartily and continued, "Here, watch these prisoners. I'm going to go inside, it's too damn hot". Akira watched as one of the guards walked to the wall and opened an iron door, then closed it behind him. Another entrance?! He had to tell the other Phantom Thieves!

There was good news and bad news. The good news is that Akira found an entrance, but the bad news is that this entrance was also locked. But it looked like the two prison guards standing by have keys attached to their belts, so that is probably is ticket inside. Of course, if he were to try and head into battle and take a key, he'd get killed for sure. So, he decided that his best course of action was to alert the Phantom Thieves.

Akira headed back to the front of the island, and all of the Phantom Thieves had mostly diverted from their original area to do something better. Some were trying to force themselves through the front door, much to Morgana's dismay, and others were searching for lost keys in the sand still. Execpt for Futaba, who was trying to use her tracker to help out in her own way. Akira whistled to get everyone's attention, and everyone poked their heads up to look at him. "Did you find something?" Morgana asked, flicking his tail around in excitment.

"There are guards with keys on their belts behind the prison, and there's a back entrance. But it's locked, so we have to get the guards' keys. Come see," Akira explained, gesturing for the group to follow him. "No effin' way! Nice goin' Joker!" Ryuji beamed, being the first to follow behind Akira. "Quiet! They'll hear us if you keep yelling like that!" Morgana whispered, causing Ryuji to groan. The rest of the Phantom Thieves followed behind Akira through sand and grass until they got to the other side of the prison.

Now, it's time to make a plan.


End file.
